MORTSEL, BELGIUM—Agfa reports it's leaving the PrintCity consortium, a group of companies that demonstrated their printing products' interconnectivity in hall six at Drupa, held earlier this year (May 6-19, 2004) in Düsseldorf, Germany.

"At Drupa, PrintCity charter objectives were fully met," states Agfa. "While the company recognizes the accomplishments of PrintCity to date, it has chosen a new approach for demonstrating the benefits of connectivity to its customers."

Agfa reports, at this past Drupa show it was the leading enabler of connectivity [among] PrintCity’s print factories in Hall 6. "At future shows, full connectivity demonstrations will not be limited to consortium partner companies."

Adds Jan Van Daele, VP of imaging solutions at Agfa, "The PrintCity project has been a very successful one for us. Drupa 2004 has fully demonstrated that systems and software from any member company can be integrated seamlessly. JDF connectivity, automation, open architecture, and interoperability are very much a reality in our industry today. We will demonstrate connectivity in our day-to-day business, not just in a consortium or at a trade show.”

Says Agfa's VP of Graphic Systems sales and services Marc Schillemans, “We were a founding partner at the previous Drupa but today’s reality is different. Open standards have become a given and we will continue to invest our efforts and resources in innovations, connectivity, and profitability for our customers.”